OAKCOM 2018 Two Days International Conference 'Innovative Practices in Business' 7th 8th September 2018 OAKCOM -2018 a 2-day International Conference on the theme 'Innovative Practices in Business' was organized by Oakbrook Business School on 7th 8th September 2018. The conference offered an opportunity to scholars, academicians and industry executives in terms of ideas/knowledge sharing and thinking of innovative practices in business. Another important purpose of this conference was to make the participants aware about current innovations taking place in the industries and implementation of the same in various segments of academics, corporate units and the other segments of the society. The Eminent speakers for the inauguration ceremony were Mr. VinayRathi, [Asst. General Manager, Bank of Baroda], Colonel Dr. Naveen Malhotra, [CHRO and President Corporate Communications, Sintex Industries Ltd.], Dr. D. M. Pestonjee, [Ex-Proffesor IIMA], Dr. C. Gopalkrishnan, [Member of Board of Governance, Oakbrook Business School], and Dr. A.C. Bhrambhatt, [Professor Emiretus, Oakbrook Business School]. There were also other dignitaries from various industries who attended the conference and expressed their views on the Innovative Practices in Business. The two day conference was divided into different sessions. Day 1 comprised of Inaugural, plenary and Paper presentation sessions. On day 2 Paper presentations was followed by valedictory session. The Inaugural session began with lighting of the lamp, welcome address proposed by Dr. Sourbhi Chaturvedi, Director OBS followed by felicitation of the guests. The conference was graced by the esteemed presence of the following Delegates from different fields.
Mr. VinayRathi, [Asst. General Manager, Band of Baroda], in his inaugural address described the importance of innovative practices adapted for serving the customer and emphasised that innovation comes from identifying customers needs and fulfilling them. He quoted several examples of companies that have approached their customers and designed the products according to their needs. Colonel Dr. Naveen Malhotra, [CHRO and President Corporate Communications, Sintex Industries Ltd.], elaborated the theme by showing the difference between creativity and innovation. He said that Creativity is Individual while Innovation is a collaborative action. He also explained about the reverse innovation and non linear innovation. Dr. D. M. Pestonjee, [Ex-Professor IIMA], spoke on bringing innovation in the work place through various innovative trends like spirituality and also emphasised on the importance of happiness quotient of employees in increased productivity of the organization.
Dr. A.C Brahmbhatt, Professor Emeritus, Oakbrook Business School, spoke on the importance of research for academicians. He gave valuable tips to all academic researchers and appealed them for conducting quality research by using appropriate methodologies. Dr. Gopalkrishnan, eminent member of Board of Governance, Oakbrook Business School, addressed the audience and motivated them to bring innovation in the field they are working. He focused on how to make students employable with the concept of learning by doing. Dr. Shraddha Sheth summarized the theme of innovative practices in business and indicated that the innovation is important and valuable when it has applicability. She indicated that next conference shall also focus on papers based on case study research which has real applications in business practices. A book with ISBN 978-81-937673-2-0 containing the selected research papers contributed by different authors from academics and industry from India and abroad was also released by the invited guests, and other distinguished speakers on the dais.
The Plenary session was an in-depth session on the theme of the conference where four speakers from different domains pointed out their views on area of their academic interest. The first speaker of the session was Mr. BaldevGhanshani, Senior Consultant/General Manager Operations at Sigma Infosolutions who related the main theme with various sub-themes of the HR domain. His anecdote made the session lively. It was innovative as well as inspirational, giving insight how HR needs to meet challenges in organisation. The second speaker of the day was Mr. Joel Evans, Company Secretary at Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation Limited.The highlights of his session revolved around four pillars of any organization ie. Innovation, Business, Practice &Finance. He shared his practical experiences in the field of finance how innovative practices have been used to boost the business & sustain in the competitive market. It was a thought-provoking address. The third speaker for the plenary session was Mr. Mukund Shukla. He delivered a mesmerizing and innovative talk which was very interesting and practical. He gave real-life examples of newspapers and the audience enjoyed it to the hilt. The fourth speaker in the plenary session was Mr. Deepak Shah, Founder and Director at SRDM skills and training Pvt. Ltd., Senior Trainer GTEP, It was indeed a motivational speech. The journey from corporate to entrepreneurship was inspiring and tempted few audiences to inculcate it.
An important aspect of the seminar was the vibrant interactions which took place among the dignitaries, the faculty members and the students. Many intelligent questions were raised by the participants relating to their educational aspirations, career progression, global exposure etc and were effectively handled by the speakers to the immense benefit of the participants. The plenary session concluded with the formal vote of thanks by Ms. Anjali Panicker (Conference cocoordinator) Assistant Prof at Oakbrook Business School. After the completion of plenary & the expert talks on various streams of management on the theme of the conference it was the time for the research paper contributors to present their research work. There were presenters from across 4 states of India namely Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan & Madhya Pradesh. OAKCOM 2018 also had papers from foreign countries like US & UK Presentations took place in 5 tracks which were chaired by eminent personalities in the field of research like Dr. Nivedita Srivastava (Member Board of Governance, Oakbrook Business School ), Dr. Nilam Panchal( Associate Professor, BK school of Management ), Dr. Anindita Mehta (Dy. General Manager & Lab Director at Consumer Education and Research Centre ), Dr. Sourbhi Chaturvedi (Director, Oakbrook Business School) & Dr. Supriya Bhutiani ( Director,Som-Lalit Institute of Management Studies ) Each presentation was followed by question answer session & valuable feedback from the chairperson. Success of OAKCOM 2018 was mainly due to the contribution by the researcher s and their contribution towards the storehouse of knowledge in their respective field. The valedictory function of OAKCOM 2018 was conducted on the 2nd day of the International conference i.e. 8th Sept 2018. The chief guest of the session was CA Sawan Godiawala (Corporate Finance Partner, Delloite India), Key note speaker was Dr Gaurav Buch (CHRO Rasna PVT. LTD renowned FMCG) and Dr A.C Brahmbhatt, Professor emeritus, OBS was the guest of honour. The function started with the conference report which was presented by Dr. Ankita Srivastava, the conference
coordinator where she mentioned the entire journey of OAKCOM from the very inception, the obstacles faced and full papers received & published, the paper review process methodology conducted & publication of the conference proceedings. In the address by the chief guest CA Sawan Godiawala shared his rich experience from his vast pool knowledge and exposure & he also gave valuable advices to the youngsters for achieve goals in life. The second speaker of valedictory was Dr. GauravBuch gave very inspirational speech. The thoughts given by him were quite feasible & workable. Next segment was the distribution of certificates & conference proceedings to the participants at the hands of dignitaries. Best 2 papers were also awarded in which the second best paper was won by Mr.Saleel Bhatt ( PhD scholar Ganpat University). The best paper was won by Dr. Stuti Trivedi (Assistant Professor C.K. Shah Vijapurwala Institute of Management). The programme concluded with a vote of thanks proposed by Ms. Pragna Kaul, Assistant Professor, Oakbrook Business School.